Product Description

The classic bestseller by Benjamin Graham, "The Intelligent Investor" has taught and inspired hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Since its original publication in 1949, Benjamin Graham's book has remained the most respected guide to investing, due to his timeless philosophy of "value investing", which helps protect investors against the areas of possible substantial error and teaches them to develop long-term strategies with which they will be comfortable down the road. Over the years, market developments have borne out the wisdom of Graham's basic policies, and in today's volatile market, "The Intelligent Investor" is the most important book you will ever read on making the right decisions to protect your investments and make them a success. Featuring new chapter updates - which append every chapter of Graham's book, leaving his original text untouched - from noted financial journalist Jason Zweig, this HarperBusiness Essentials edition of the timeless classic offers readers an even clearer understanding of Graham's wisdom as it should be applied today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #249 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

About the Author
Benjamin Graham was the most influential investor of all time. His work laid the foundation of modern security analysis and The Intelligent Investor is considered to be the definitive text on value investing. His life and work have been the inspiration for many of today's most successful businesspeople. Updated edition Jason Zweig, a respected financial journalist, writes for Money magazine. He was recently awarded the 2002 Excellence in Investor Education Award for his dedication to informing and educating the public on value investing.

Customer Reviews

Invest In This Book, Invest In Yourself
With more than one million copies sold and an endorsement on the cover by Warren Buffet, you know there has to be something to this book- and I think I know why. Simply because it is the first book ever to describe the emotional framework and analytical tools necessary for financial success for individual investors.

Probably the single best book on investing written for the lay-public and the stock market bible since its first appearance in 1949, it's a great resource, although it's quite a thick book and filled with detail- and probably not for anybody but the serious stock market investor. And if getting motivated to start investing is your problem, suggest The Sixty-Second Motivator. Good luck!

Two books: one old and good, one new and bad
This edition of The Intelligent Investor is really two books in one. There is the original 1973 edition of Ben Graham's classic on "value investing" and then a commentary on each chapter by Jason Zweig.
Graham's text is solid, a little heavy, sometimes a little out of date, and some of his tables a bit user-unfriendly; but no matter: it is the timeless lessons he teaches that matter. He is very methodical, a bit mathematical and -- if you follow him all the way -- will leave you with a good grounding in how to approach the stock market.
Basically his gospel is this: ignore all the hype and blather around the stockmarket. Invest for the long-term in big, rock-steady, simple businesses, after analysing them with a few financial criteria. But only buy when the market is offering them at a bargain price.
Unfortunately, each of Graham's sober tutorials is followed by a commentary by Zweig. He may claim to be a disciple of the great man, but he is certainly not cut from the same cloth. Zweig is just one more financial markets cheerleader: repetitive, pushy, and rolling out the same old disaster stories from the dot.com era ad nauseam, supposedly to show how wise Graham was (in case you didn't understand Graham's chapter). He also repeatedly cites his own magazine and keeps naming the same fund, which is annoying at the very least. He also resorts to a lot of "if you had bought shares on every third Wednesday since 1974 you would have made a 3,859 percent return!!" kind of hocus-pocus which is a complete waste of time.
Zweig could have used the opportunity to unpick some of the knottier points of Graham's book and help readers understand the harder parts. The worst thing is that he sometimes goes against Graham's teachings, so he should NOT be taken as an extension of Graham! (For example, on page 129 he says if you don't have time to choose your own stocks, there's no shame in hiring someone to pick them for you. On page 243, he says "In the financial markets, luck is more important than skill". Ben Graham must be turning in his grave.)
One more caveat: this volume boasts a preface and appendix by Warren Buffett, Ben Graham's most famous pupil. But don't be swayed by that. The preface is an obituary written by Buffett and the appendix is an edited talk that Buffett gave in 1984. They're okay but it doesn't mean that Buffett is backing this schizoid volume.
My advice: read the Graham chapters, ditch the Zweig commentary. You'll save time AND be wiser.

Small Cap Value Stocks Lead the US Market through 2004
The Intelligent Investor effectively introduces the idea of examining a company's stock as though you might buy the whole company. This is the way that potential acquirers of the company will look at it. If it looks like a good buy as an acquisition, you have the added edge of a potential buy out to help buoy your stocks.

With so many stocks beaten down over the last few years, this is a good time to think about value investing. Also, remember that you can buy value investing indexed mutual funds now. And these have done well through 2004, especially the ones that focus on small capitalization stocks.

In March 2000, many people considered value investing about as useful as high-button shoes. If they had thought about value investing, they would have had another measure of how overpriced the market was. As a result, losses could have been avoided.

On the other hand, value investing will make you money more often than momentum investing will over the years. Long-term studies have shown that small cap value stocks beat the S&P 500 over time.

So even if this does not seem like this approach is right for you, you should learn more before rejecting this alternative.

Here's another reason why: Almost all stocks will be volatile relative to their average p/e, price/cash flow, or price/revenue ratio. By paying attention to this volatility, you can learn a lot about when to buy and sell a given stock. Astute traders based on value principles can also use options to lock in even larger profits, taking the normal ebb and flow of valuation into account.

Those who envy Warren Buffett's track record should understand these principles as well, because these ideas are the basis for some of the Buffett investing style. He later added a perspective on stock markets and human psychology that Graham did not have: Brand names which are attached to quality products and services will tend to outperform the market, especially when they have the potential to expand their geographical distribution around the world and to add new products.

Another benefit of understanding the lessons in this book is to help you know when value investors will probably want to start buying a "beaten down" stock, which will often mark the beginning of the stock's turnaround.

You will look in vain for a better book on value investing, and understanding this subject is like going to Driver's Education when you are learning to drive. It is an important groundwork for being a safe investor.

The most important concept you will ever learn as an investor is that avoiding losses is more important than making gains. It is too hard to make up for the losses, so make more careful buys in the first place and be prepared to leave before your precious capital is dissipated.

If you are a new investor, another lesson for you will be the need to establish a discipline to how you invest. This book will give you a good sense of how that can be done.

Otherwise, the stock market can be an expensive form of gambling. Please do buy, read, think about, and use the insights of this book to create more value for yourself and those you care about. We will all be richer if you do.

After you have finished enjoying this book, I suggest that you also think about where else in your life you should be careful not to make big mistakes. How about in your relationships?

May your wealth compound safely and intelligently for you!